Did you know...Almost half the world — over three billion people — live on less than $2.50 a day.

At least 80% of humanity lives on less than $10 a day. —Source: World Bank, August 2008

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Types of Poverty

Absolute Poverty
It is the extreme kind of poverty involving the chronic lack of basic food, clean water, health and housing. Poeple in absolute poverty tend to struggle to live and experience a lot of child deaths from preventable diseases like malaria, cholera and water-contamination related diseases. This type is usually long term in nature, and often handed to them by generations before them. This kind of poverty is usually not common in the developed world.

Relative Poverty
This kind is usually in relation to other members and families in the society. For example, a family can be considered poor if it cannot afford vacations, or cannot buy presents for children at Christmas, or cannot send its young to the university. Even though they have access to government support for food, water, medicine and free housing, they are considered poor because the rest of the community have access to superior services and amenities.

Situational Poverty (Transitory)
People or families can be poor because of some adversities like earthquakes, floods or a serious illness. Sometimes, people can help themselves out of this situation quickly if they are given a bit of assistance, as the cause of their situations was just one unfortunate event.

Generational or Chronic Poverty
This is a more complicated type and we will see a detailed example here. This is when poverty is handed over to individuals and families from generations before them. In this type, there is usually no escape from it, as people are trapped in its causes and have no access to tools that will help them get out of it.